we've gotta carry each other
by Raburinna
Summary: Pai forces his comrades to deal with the tension that's been between them all since they've been fighting the Mew Mews. Oneshot, character friendships between the aliens. Edited.


'we've gotta carry each other';  
written by Rinna.

"Mew Mew Mint, Metamorpho-sis!"

"Mew Mew Lettuce, Metamorpho-sis!"

"Mew Mew Zakuro, Metamorpho-sis!"

"Mew Mew Pudding, Metamorpho-sis!"

"Mew Mew Strawberry, Metamorpho-sis!"

Light. There was always lots of light. And the three friends new that they were in trouble, no matter how determined they were, no matter how good a plan Pai'd concieved.

"Mew Mint! Over to the left!"

"I'm on it, Mew Ichigo!"

And then the battle cries would sound.

"Pudding Rings!" _More_ light, of course. "I'll take this one, na no da. Pudding Ring Inferno!!"

"Mint Tone Arrow! I can take you jerks. Ribbon! Mint Echo!"

"Here I go! Lettuce Castanets. Ribbon! Lettuce Rush!" (This is where Pai would flinch, and Kisshu would hold back a smirk, despite the situation.)

"A hit, no da! Good job, onee-chan, na no da!" (And Taruto would grimace, not wanting to fight _her_.)

"Let's end this. Zakro Cross Whip!" The wolf-girl would leap into the air. "Ribbon. Zakuro's Pure!" (Kisshu would shiver; that chick packed a _hard_ punch.)

"Strawberry Bell!" Ichigo would grin as her weapon powered up. "And now for the finale, nya! Ribbon! _Strawberry Check_!!" (Pai would narrow his eyes and order a retreat. Taruto would glare harshly, on the verge of tears. And Kisshu would hesitate, if only for a moment; he was glad not to fight her, but reluctant to leave her. Because it wasn't fair, to any of them.)

"She ruins _everything_!!" Taruto shrieked once they were back on the ship. "It's not _fair_. Dammit, I hate her! This is how it goes _every_ _time_!"

"Watch your mouth, Taruto," Pai said idly, pretending to work while replaying in his mind the image of the green Mew attacking. (He didn't like it, for some reason.)

"Shut up, Tart!" shouted Kisshu, just as fierce. "She's good! She's kind and beautiful and wonderful and I love her!"

"You don't!" Taruto said loudly. Hot, angry tears were spilling down the youngest boy's cheeks now. "You don't love her! She's not good or kind or anything! She'd gladly kill us right away if given the chance, and I hate her, and you hate her, because you have to or we'll die!"

"You don't understand," mumbled Kisshu, voice still full of anger as he turned away from Taruto.

Taruto turned away as well. "No, I don't," he said coldly. "I don't understand how you could fall so easily for one who trying to _kill_ us." (And he couldn't; he couldn't understand Kisshu _or_ himself.)

"Taruto..." Pai said, only to be cut off.

"Shut your _mouth_, you freaking midget! You're so stupid, you never understand anything!"

"Kisshu..."

"_You're_ the stupid one! You go around talking about how we need to save everyone back home, help our friends and family. But..." Taruto's face fell, and he sounded more desperate than angry as he said, "But you never _mean _it. You don't even care about us anymore."

Pai commenced to simply watching the two now, waiting for this thing to resolve itself.

"Tart, you idiot, don't say that. We're a family here, ne? I _do_ care about-"

"How can you _say_ that?!" Taruto was crying again. The air around him started to ripple, but Pai narrowed his eyes and grabbed the younger boy's wrist before he could send himself away.

"Taruto," Pai said sharply. Taruto shrieked and yanked at his wrist, trying to get Pai to let go. Pai ignored him. His other hand shot out to latch on to Kisshu'd wrist. "Kisshu," Pai said. Kisshu just glared and stuck his tongue out.

Pai looked at his two friends, gave them a glare, and then shoved them together. Kisshu's elbow got Taruto in the nose, and Taruto's knee caught Kisshu's stomach.

Both of them whirled around to face the older alien and shouted at him. "Pai, the _heck_ was that for?!" they cried in unison.

Pai gave the slightest smirk as they turned to each other, wide-eyed.

"_What_ did you say?" asked a suspicious Taruto.

"What did _you_ say?" said Kisshu, cocking his head. They looked at each other for a moment before staring at Pai.

"We are a family," Pai said simply. "We are all of one. Don't waste it like this."

Taruto flushed a bit. "Yeah..."

"One," finished Kisshu, a grin tugging at his features. He threw an arm around each of his friends. Pai glanced at Kisshu and arched an eyebrow, but allowed himself to return the gesture. Taruto flushed a bit and did the same. (Well, his arm was closer to just above Kisshu's waist, but...)

"One big happy, ne?" Taruto mumbled, slightly sarcastically.

"Close enough." Kisshu laughed.

"Yes. Close enough," said Pai, smilling a bit. Because they _were_ a family, and they'd each carry one another when they needed it.

And _that_ was what made _one_.

* * *

_We're one, but we're not the same.  
Well, we hurt each other, then we do it again..._

_And I can't be holding on to what you got, when all you got is hurt._

_One love, one blood, one life, you got to do what you should.  
One life with each other: sisters, brothers.  
One life, but we're not the same.  
We get to carry each other, carry each other.  
One, one..._

-from U2's _One_.

* * *

A Note from The Rin;

Aw, alien fluff. Well, friendship-wise, but that can be good to, ne? Ha!

The song at the end, I thought it was inceredibly appropriate for the aliens. I imagine there'd be tension between them while fighting the Mew Mews, but they do still consider each other family, and they each hold a platonic love for one another. Yay!!

And yes, I realize I left the 'what' off of the phrase 'what the heck'. I say 'the heck?!' _all_ the time, and so do a lot of people I know, so I end up using it in writing sometimes. So there.

EDIT; I decided that the ending was _way_ too choppy, so I fixed it up a bit. Meh, it was kind of spur-of-the-moment, but I hope it worked out okay.


End file.
